Denmark has made a nationwide commitment to Open Access for the biomedical research it funds. All universities, hospitals and other research institutes in Denmark became BioMed Central members in October. The membership agreement covers the cost of publication, in BioMed Central's 120 Open Access journals, for all publicly funded researchers and teachers in Denmark.

BioMed Central agreed the membership with the Denmark's Electronic Research Library (DEF) - a co-operation between the Danish research libraries under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Development and the Ministry of Culture.

Bo hrstrm, DEF co-ordinator and deputy director of the Danish National Library Authority, explained why DEF took the decision, "Open Access publications help disseminate research but also represent a completely new development in journal publishing. A national agreement like this benefits all scholars and research institutions in Denmark, including smaller research projects in growth areas."

Natasha Robshaw, Head of Marketing and Sales at BioMed Central, said: "We applaud Denmark's Electronic Research Library for making this important step, and are really excited that three of the four Scandinavian countries have now become BioMed Central members. This will have a huge effect on awareness of Open Access, and its many benefits, in this part of Europe. We hope that Sweden will join its neighbors making a national commitment to Open Access. Sweden has been an early proponent of Open Access- Lund University was the first institution to become a BioMed Central member."

Scandinavia is now leading the world in its commitment to Open Access. Denmark's decision follows an announcement last month that Norway has agreed a national membership with BioMed Central. In May 2004, Finland became the first entire country to sign up for BioMed Central membership for all of its 25000 publicly funded researchers.

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Contact: Grace Baynes
press@biomedcentral.com
BioMed Central
12-Nov-2004

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